Chusetts



'Nov. 22, 1927. 1,650,436

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fi /E ZMT Nov. 22, 1927. 1,650,436

A. P. EKVALL ARTICLE PROPELLING MEANS FOR LABELING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 21. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 22, 1927.

' UNITED STATES 1,650,436 PATENT OFFICE.

ARVID I. EKVALL, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ECONOMIC MA- CHINEBY COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

ARTICLE-PROPELLING MEANS FOR LABELING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

Application filed January 21, 1927. Serial No. 162,607.

This invention relates to certain novel constructions and combinations, as set forth, in mechanism for advancing or controlling the movement of bottles, containers, or other articlesin labeling machines or the like, more especially applicable to machines of the character described in my previous Letters Patent No. 1,630,235, dated May 24, 1927, the prime object of my present invention being to provide an eflicient and desirable means where'- by the machine is adapted for operation on bottles or articles of various sizes or shapes without requiring changes in the label-apply ing mechanism, or in the length of reciprocativemovement of the feed-mechanism.

Another object is to provide, in a feed mechanism including a reciprocating carrier having a plurality of pairs of article-grip ping members mounted thereon; of means whereby the relation of all the several pairs of gripping members can be simultaneously uniformly varied for accommodating different sizes of articles.

A further objectis to provide in a labeling machine including gum-applying means and labelapplying means and a longitudinal track runway, whereon articles to be labeled are advanced intermittently by pairs of adj acently pivoted oppositely swinging gripper-claws or clutch members; of a' compound longitudinally reciprocating claw-carrier bar composed of dual slidably united members, each pair of gripper-claws having one of the claws pivoted upon one member of said compound carrier and the other claw of each pair pivoted upon the other member of said carrier, and means for varying the longitudinal relation of the carrier-bar members one upon the other.

A further object is to provide the oppositely clutching feed grippers with facilities for accommodating variations in the diametric size or regularity in successive bottles or articles, as they run, and to insure unity of clutch for each pair of gri-pper-claws in the series as they are simultaneously actuated.

I attain these objects by mechanism of the character hereinafter more fully explained with reference to drawings.

The accompanying drawings (2 sheets) show such parts of a labeling machine as will illustrate the nature of my present in vention.

Fig. l is a rear elevation of the central portion of the carrier bar, runway track,

gripper-claws, and carrier-actuating means.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same, at line XX on Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of a portion of the feed-way, with sectional indications at positions where the gum-applying pad and label-applying pickers co-act with the article upon said feed-way.

Fig. 4 is a separate plan view illustrating the composite carrier bar-structure.

Fig. 5 is a rear surface view of the front member of said carrier-bar.

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the back member of the carrier-bar.

ceding Letters Patent No. 1,630,235; and

reference may be'had to the description contained in said patent for a fuller understanding of the structure, organization and operation of a machine to which this invention, is applicable.

Referring to the drawing numeral 8, 8, in dicates parallel tracks arranged with an in tervening longitudinal space 13 and having uniform surfaces upon which the bottles or articles B are supported and slide intermittently between stop stations at which the gumming, label-applying, or other lateral co-actingly associated mechanisms are respectively located. Said mechanisms are preferably combined and adapted for operation as set forth in my prior patent above referred to.

The dual track may be of any required length to include a desired number of stop stations; but in the present drawings only a portion thereof suflicient for illustrating the within described invention is shown. The tracks and adjacent bars are supported near their ends, upon the table and by suitable brackets, not shown.

11 indicates the guard rail along the back of the runway, for keepingthe articles or bottles B in proper alinement.

20+ indicate gripper-claws by which the bottles or articles are intermittently ad vanced along the tracks 8 and. delivered at the several stop stations; and 16 indicates the carrier upon which the said gripperclaws are;.,pivotally mounted in pairs-to swing upward for seizing the bottles above the tracks, move them forward-one interval, and to swing down below the track level for their return to primal position.

. ,length of the runway.

I claw 20+.

21 "indicates the upwardly and downwardly moving plate for closing and opening the gripper-claws substantially as disclosed in my prior patent.

The articles B are propelled in the direction indicated by arrow 7' on Fig. 1, gripped between the leading claw 20 and following In practice the articles arestopped at regular spaced intervals along the runway, the stop stations being at the positions where the bottles B are located on the drawings and at equal intervals throughout the The pairs of gripper-claws 20 and 20 t and carrier 16 whereon said gripper-claws are mounted, have reciprocative movement equal to the distance from onestop station to the next. Such. movement may be imparted thereto by an angle lever 23- from a suitably formed cam 35 fixed'upon the operating shaft S+. The

head of'said lever is best connected with the gripper-carrier element by an extendable link 33, as indicated on Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

According to my present invention the gripper-carrier 16 is constructed as a con1-' tween the predetermined stop-stations and are pivotallymounted on the carrier 16 .in the order indicated. Thepivot stud 7 for the leading claw or grip-member 20 in each pair (shown at the right) is firml fixed in the forward plate 1 of the carrierfwhile the pivot stud 9 for'the follower claw or gripmember in each pair (shown at the left) is firmlyfixed in the rear plate 2 of the carrier and respectively project through longitudi-. nally disposed slots 10 formed'inthe for ,wardplate 1 ofthecarrier-bar; thus all'of the leading claws 20in the series of pairs are mounted on the front plate 1, and" all of the follower claws 20+ are mounted on the rear plate 2, whatever number of pairs of grippers may be employed in the series.

Combined with the carrier there is :1 brace or actuator-connecting member 14, se

cured uponthe back ofsaiddual. carrien bar by bolts 15 that pass through slot 25 in the rear member 2 and engagein threaded.

- openingl5+ in the frontmember-l: in suc manner that when said bolts are tightened the plates 1 and 2 are rigidly clamped to gether, and to the brace 14, then when said bolts are loosened end-wise regulation of the parts can be effected. i

The front member 1 of the carrier-bar 16 is provided with an attached projection 17 having an internally threaded opening therethrough, parallel' with the bar; while the rear member 2 of said carrier-bar is provided with an attached 'projeetion 17 of similar character. Through saidprojec tions 17 and 17 parallel with the carrierbar, there is a centrally heaizlediscrew-bolt 22- having a right hand thread and a left hand thread on its two portionsthat respectively engage in said internally threaded proJections, as shown on Fig. 1. The. brace mem ber 14 is provided with two projecting lugs, 2d and 24+, and between which said screw 22is' positioned with its ends abutting against or supported by said lugs.

By rotating. the screw bolt 22, the'respeo tive members 1- and 2' o'f the compound carrier-bar can, in response to the opposite trendof the right and leftscrew threads in the projections, be relatively shifted, longitudinally one upon the other, to move the pivots of the respective gripper-claws in each of the pairs towards or from, each other without changing the relation of the center alinement of the pair or interval spacing ofthe series ofpairs. Hence the gripper means.

is adapted for operating with bottles or articles of different sizes or sl'iapes, without re- (uiring any material change in the labeleed or other accompanying mechanisms. Furthermore this change from one size or style. of bottle to another can'b'e conveniently and quickly efl'ected, reqniring. the

stopping of the machine but a very few. minutes when making the. change. J

A further feature of the invention, consists in providing one oft-he gripper claws in each pair of the series,,preferably the leading claws 20, witha yieldable contact element or'face comprising an endwise mov able stud 3, projecting from an opening in the facebf' the claw (seeFig. 8) and hav ing a fiangedend loosely confined within a cavity t, formed in the headof the claw, r0

gether with a spring 5 that tends to press said stud forward, said springbei'ng seated against a plug or stopper 6 screwed into the threaded opening at the backend of the cavity.

When the plurality of pairs of gripper claws close against a series of bottles or articles, there may occur some slight variations in the size or form of the several ar ticles, but the construction here described insures uniform grip upon all in the series since the yielding contact of any pair automatically accommodates such variations without interference with the other pairs. The spring pressed contact member 3 also serves to hold cylindrical or oval shaped bottles, to prevent any rotative movement or displacement thereof between the gum applying station and label afiixing station so that the labels will be accurately applied upon the previously gummed area.

indicates the gum-applying pad at the position where it approaches the run-way for contacting with the bottle, and 64 indicates the label-applying means or pickers representing the position for presenting the label to the bottle or article stationed upon the tracks (see Figs. 1 and 3.)

21 indicates the lifter-bar upon which the rollers 19 of the gripper-claws rest and run, said bar has up and down movements for closing and opening the gripper-claws, as illustrated on Fig. 7, by the full and dotted lines; the movement being practically the same as described in my prior patent.

' I claim as of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a machine of the character described, comprising a longitudinal feed-way for bot tles or articles, a gum-applying means, a labelapplying means, and means for disposing the articles thereon severally at predetermined interval stations along said feedway, consisting of a series of pairs of pivotally supported co-acting grippers between which the articles are clasped and advanced, a reciprocating carrier element comprising a pair of longitudinal adjustably connected members respectively supporting the pivots of one gripper in each of the co-acting pairs, means for reciprocatively operating said carrier the distance of the interval between stations, means for closing and opening the pairs of grippers, a unitary means for simultaneously regulating the pivotal relation of the individual grippers in all the respective pairs for operating upon difierent sizes of articles, means for rigidly securing said carrier-members to each other, and means connecting the carrier with its actuating mechanism.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, a longitudinal runway for supporting articles to be labeled, a plurality of pairs of adjacently pivoted oppositely swinging article-gripping claws that move the articles intermittently from station to station along said runway, a dual carrier element for said gripper-claws composed of adjacently associated members, the respective gripper-claws in each pair being pivotedly supported, one claw upon one of said (211" rier members, and the other claw upon the other of said carrier members, means connecting the dual members adapted for varying their longitudinal relation one to the other, means for longitudinally reciprocating the carrier element and means for closing and opening the gripper-claws at the respective limits of the reciprocative movement.

3. In a mechanism of the character described including a runway for supporting and directing the articles to be advanced intermittently from station to station thereon, a reciprocating carrier having movement parallel with said runway, a series of pairs of gripping-claws pivotally mounted on said carrier, with the centers of the respective pairs uniformly spaced apart to coincide with the distance between stop-stations; of means for simultaneously uniformly increasing or reducing the distance between the pivotal axes of the individual gripper-claws in each of the pairs, without disturbing the central spaced relation of the pairs in re spect to each other in the series.

l. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a runway for articles, a reciprocating carrier element composed of a pair of adjacent, co-matching parallel barmembers, a plurality of uniformly spaced pairs of individually pivoted gripper-claws, one of said bar-members having the pivot studs of one claw in each pair securely fixed therein, also provided with adjacent longitudinal slots, the pivot studs for the other claw in each pair extending loosely through said slots and securely fixed in the other bar- -member, said bar members each provided with an internally threaded projection, a rotatable screw having right-hand and lefthand screw threads respectively engaging in said projections, an actuator-attaching brace provided with lugs for confining said screw and with slots and bolts for clamping together the carrier bar-members, means for operating the carrier, and means for controlling the action of the gripper-claws.

5. In a mechanism for the purpose specified, a track-way for slidably supporting articles for labeling, adapted to afford a series of stop-stations at regular spaced intervals, a plurality of pairs of article gripper claws centrally spaced to coincide with the station intervals said claws individually pivoted to oppositely swing above and below the trackway level, a compound gripper-carrier comprising two longitudinally parallel adjacently co-matching bars, the pivot stud of the following claw in each pair bein supported in the other of said bars, a ri t and left screw connecting projections fixed on the bars, the lower offset end of each claw provided with a free running roller, an up and down moving lifter bar upon which said rollers rest and travel, means for actuating said litter ibar, parallel -with the trackavay, a brace attached vto and. havingnmans for; clamping said carrier bars together as a unit,

and an adjustable link connecting saiclbrace with actuating means, for reclprocatingsaid compound grlpper-carrler.

6. In amechanism of the class described,

in combination, an article supporting runway, a plurality of pairsot co-acting. grip-,

per-claws, said claws individually pivoted oppositely adjacent to the central line of the pair and closable against the leading and;

following sides of the article stan'dingnpon theirunway, a compound gripper-carrier element comprising two longitudinally parfallel adjustably unlted members, the p voting; studs of the leading gripper-claw being sup-.

portedin one of said members, the pivoting studs; of the following gripper claw being" supported 1n the other of said members, meanstor simultaneously unitormly increas 7. In a mechanism of the class described,

the combination with a runway for articles, and pivotally mounted claws that oppositely grip'the article at itsleading and following sides for moving it along said runway, ot a compound claw-carrier element comprising two longitudinally associated members, and

an actuator-attaching brace having means for.

rigidly clamping said carrier-members together, the pivot stud for the leading gripper claw being supported in one of said car-rier momma;

members; andv the pivot stud for the -follow; inggripper-claw. being, uppo ted i e. other of s aidcarrier, members, means a, for; regulating the longitudinal relation; of saidi carrier members in respect to -each other said means comprising/a; right and left screw-threaded. memberarranged tor oppo-; sitely moving sardcarraer members ;uponsaid actuatoreattaching brace,

8.; In a labeling mechanism comprising a runway for supporting and guiding articles;

to belabeled, a reciprocating compound ear rier movingparallel, witl'nsaid runway, a

plurality ot'i pairs of gripper-claws indie vidually mounted? on-the respective members;

of said carrier, means for simultaneously closing said pairs of gripper-claws against the pposite sides .ofthearticles tolb adif vanced along said runway, a ieldable contact me'mberinbombinationwit the gripping end of one claw in each pair of Ward pressure against saidcontact member.

9.111 a mechanism for the purpose de.

scribed including a runway for supporting articles to be labeled, a reciprocating gripper-carrier, a carrier-actuating means, and pairs of oppositely closing gripper-claws mounted upon said carrier, one gripper-claw,

of; the pair having ,a flanged, plunger stud movably projecting through an opening in,

against saidstud within the chambered head of claw, a stopper confiningthe spring with-t in the chamber, and means for operatm the; pairs of gripper-claws for clasping an releasing: the articles.

ARVID P; 'EKVALL;

gripper. claws, and a spring normally exertingout- 

